Excitement in the west as talented Kleinveldt set for debut
Ever y t hing i n t he garden would appear to be rosy for West of Scotland. Not only have the Hamilton Crescent side opened their Western Premier campaign with two wins but today they introduce South African international Rory Kleinveldt.
Thanks to the backing of cl ub s ponsor Mccrea FS, West have been able to secure the services of one of the highest- profile overseas stars to grace these shores for several years.
It also helped that Kleinveldt has significant Scottish connections – his brother- inlaw is the Ferguslie captain Riyaad Henry and his fatherin- law, the South Africa and Scotland legend Omar Henry.
The 36- year- old, having already had an impact in a midweek Mcculloch Cup tie, makes his league debut as West head to Drumpellier today and skipper Ian Young said: “Everyone at the club is excited to have Rory joining us. He is a fantastic player with so much experience that we will all be tapping into to make the club stronger.
“He has already got himself involved in the coaching side and I think it’s great for Scottish cricket generally to have someone of his talent here – people want to play with him and against him.”
That v i e w i s s h a r e d by Drumps’ s ki pper Gordon Shaw, who said: “I think all the guys in the league will be looking for ward to testing themselves against someone of that calibre.”
Like West, 2017 champions Prestwick are unbeaten and aim to extend that run when they visit a Greenock side yet to break their duck.
Prestwick captain Tom Fleet said: “We’re happy with the start but not getting ahead of ourselves. Greenock have some very good players who are capable of winning games for them but we’ll focus on our own performances.”
Prestwick are without Shahzad Rafiq who is replaced by Matt Morgan while Greenock are missing skipper Neil Flack but Chris Hempsey returns.
It is a similar story at East Kilbride where t he home team are also trying to record a first win against Clydesdale, who are bidding for a third straight win but are without injured Scotland all- rounder Richie Berrington.
Poloc are another side yet to experience the winning feeling and it doesn’t get any easier today when they entertain an Uddingston team who have taken maximum points from their first three fixtures.
The Shawholm side welcome back Muhammad Dar and Ahmad Chaudhry while the visitors are without Scotland pace bowler Gavin Main.
Champions Ferguslie travel with an unchanged side to face Stirling.